The Libertas Council welcomes original articles that provide clear thinking and high-quality analysis of recent developments in law, politics, practice, and culture that impact human rights, freedom, justice, democracy, and human dignity. Please thoroughly read the Contributor Guidelines before submitting your article. All articles must comply with the Libertas Council Style Guide. Thank you for your interest in writing for the Libertas Council.
Writing for the Libertas Council
Thank you for your interest in contributing an article to the Libertas Council website. Please thoroughly read these Contributor Guidelines before submitting your article. The Libertas Council welcomes original articles that provide clear thinking and high-quality analysis of recent developments in law, politics, practice, and culture that impact human rights, freedom, justice, democracy, and human dignity.
Who Can Contribute?
The Libertas Council website is an egalitarian space. We welcome submissions from thought leaders, students, researchers, policymakers, academics, lawyers, and members of civil society organizations. However, the Libertas Council only publishes high-quality articles that comply with the Contributor Guidelines and the Libertas Council Style Guide
Contributor Guidelines.
Formatting and general guidelines
- Articles must be between 600-900 words in length. The editorial team will not prioritize articles longer than 900 words.
- Articles must be written in English and present ideas clearly.
- Articles must include hyperlinks to relevant sources and background information, including cases, statutes, judgments, laws, treaties, etc. Hyperlinks must link only to respected news sources. The editors make the final decision over what constitutes a respectable source. Please do not use footnotes.
- Articles should comply with the Libertas Council Style Guide.
- Articles should include a proposed title. Titles should be informative and grab the reader’s attention. A reader should be able to tell what the post is about from the title. Titles should be as brief as possible. The editorial team will make the final determination for the article’s title.
Dialogue and promotion.
The Libertas Council works with Contributors to expand the reach of each article. Contributors should share their social media handles with the Libertas Council so the Libertas Council can tag them in its posts. Each Contributor should share the article with friends and colleagues through email and social media.
Contributor’s Agreement.
By submitting an article to the Libertas Council, the Contributor guarantees that the article is their unique work product, unpublished, and not simultaneously submitted elsewhere in any form for publication. Contributors also permit the Libertas Council to use their article, with full attribution but without further consent, in online and print publications. Upon Libertas Council’s publication, cross-posting or publication on other platforms is permissible with the consent of the Libertas Council.
The Publishing Process.
If you would like to submit an article to the Libertas Council, email your draft to [email protected], including your article title and author’s name in the subject line. Include a profile photo, a short bio, and full contact information in your submission email.
The editors will not approve articles before reviewing the text. If you are unsure whether a topic is suitable for the Libertas Council or would like to pitch an idea for an article not yet drafted, please email [email protected]. An indication that a topic may be suitable does not amount to advance acceptance of the article.
Once you have submitted your draft article, the editorial team will contact you. Please give our editors time to review your submission. We endeavor to respond quickly to submissions, and you can anticipate a response within one week. Please refrain from contacting the editorial team for an update before one week has elapsed.
Acceptances
The Libertas Council will email its decision on publication. If accepted, there may be a delay between acceptance and publication. We aim to minimize the delay when a post covers a recent or urgent issue. The Libertas Council will work with Contributors who have specific timing requests.
Rejections and Invitations to Re-submit
If the Libertas Council declines to publish an article, the editorial team may invite the author to revise, edit, or resubmit the article for future consideration.
The editors may, in their absolute discretion, waive any of the above guidelines or amend this process.
The Libertas Council is a leadership community committed to combating human trafficking, advancing democracy, and affirming human dignity. The Libertas Council community strives to conform to this Style Guide in print and electronic materials.
Formatting
Font, font size, spacing, and margins.
The Libertas Council uses Old Goudy Style, 12-point font. When Old Goudy Style is unavailable, use EB Garamond font. Written materials should be single-spaced in a Word.doc or Google Doc, and margins should be one inch on all sides.
Use headnotes in bold.
Headnotes serve as a strategic roadmap. Please include headnotes and subhead notes accordingly.
Formatting quotations (49 words or less).
Enclose all quotations with quotation marks, and place commas or periods inside of the quotation mark. All other punctuation falls outside of the quotation marks unless the punctuation is part of the quoted text. Include the citation for reference purposes.
Formatting block quotations (50 words or more).
If a quotation is 50 words or more, indent on both sides, justified, and remove quotation marks. Include the citation for reference purposes.
Citations
Provide consistent, uniform citations:
The Libertas Council relies on authors for the accuracy of information. Authors must provide appropriate and consistent citations for facts and quotations through the use of hyperlinks for materials for online posting. Writers may use footnotes for some projects, as appropriate. If you are writing an amicus brief or for a legal audience on behalf of the Libertas Council, please provide legal citations in accordance with the Bluebook if not otherwise indicated.
Copyrighted materials.
Authors are responsible for obtaining all copyright permissions. The Libertas Council will not publish copyrighted materials without permission.
Style & Tone
Present ideas clearly for a broad and professional audience.
The Libertas Council’s audience includes thought leaders, students, researchers, policymakers, academics, lawyers, members of civil society organizations, and the general public. Avoid jargon, cliché, and industry-specific words that others will not easily understand. Present the ideas with clarity and precision.
Write in the active voice.
The passive voice occurs whenever you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. In Washington, DC, it is common to say, “mistakes were made” to avoid taking responsibility. When it comes to combating human trafficking, the Libertas Council avoids using the passive voice to hide the trafficker’s actions. The Libertas Council avoids “people were trafficked,” or “victims were subjected to trafficking.” The active voice brings clarity, precision, and responsibility. Avoid the passive voice unless it is necessary to express an idea or simplify the reader’s experience.
Murder your darlings.
Roy Peter Clark’s writing advice is “murder your darlings.” The big idea is not all of the darling passages you write should end up in the published version. Every good writer must edit out ideas, sentences, paragraphs, and even chapters that are not essential to driving the narrative or making the point. Do not keep something because you like it. Keep it because it works.
Attack acronyms.
Other than universally known acronyms such as the FBI, EU, IRS, and KGB, the Libertas Council avoids acronyms—even when writing for an audience that knows and regularly uses industry-specific acronyms. Acronyms often exclude newcomers and become jargon.
Libertas Council branding.
When referring to the Libertas Council, use “Libertas Council,” “Libertas,” or “the Council.” The Libertas Council does not refer to itself as the “LC.” Do not capitalize “the” before Libertas Council unless it is at the start of a sentence.
Grammar
Embrace the Oxford comma.
When listing three or more things, the Libertas Council uses a comma before the conjunction “and.” This is a smart, wise, and meaningful way to write.
Avoid abbreviations and contractions.
Please do not shorten words (for example, “apt” for “apartment,” “amt” for “amount,” etc.) and avoid the use of contractions (for example, “it’s,” “don’t,” “we’ve,” etc.).
Delete “that.”
Writers often overuse the word “that.” If you can delete it and a sentence reads the same, please do.
Clarify antecedents and pronouns.
If it is not clear what your “it” or “that” is referring to in the sentence, bring the noun up again. Make the antecedent clear. Ensure the use of pronouns does not confuse the reader.
Check adjectives.
Are they all necessary? Is a more specific noun choice better? For example, is it a brimmed hat or a fedora?
Limit adverbs.
Those are words that modify other words—for example, “very,” “super,” “basically,” etc. There is usually a stronger word available.
Limit exclamation points.
One per article is plenty—in fact, it may be too many. Use only for commands or true exclamations.
Percent (word or symbol?).
The word “percent” is usually used in nontechnical contexts, whereas the symbol % is more common in scientific and statistical articles. The Libertas Council spells out the word “percent.”
Numbers.
Spell out numbers 1-9 and use numerals for 10 and above. For example, there were eight participants and 10 spots available.
- Exception: If it is a range, e.g., 1-9, use numerals
- Exception: If the number starts the sentence, spell it out (“Eighty percent of the world…”
Common Word Choices.
The Libertas Council uses the following:
- “Combating” has one “t,” not two. We are not involved in “combatting” human trafficking.